Environmentally Sustainable Economic Development - by Asayehgn Desta (Paperback)

About the Book

Can sustainable economic development be achieved without strong environmental protections? Bringing together theoretical issues in development economics and a wide range of empirical evidence, this book examines this question and explores ways that environmental sustainability has been--and might be--incorporated into existing theories of economic development. Protection of the environment is an essential part of development, and the best chance for achieving long-term sustainable development is to systematically incorporate environmental issues into key aspects of economic development paradigms. To show this, Desta makes use of theoretical approaches, draws policy implications, and illustrates each point with in-depth case studies from developing countries.

Although economists have attempted to discern the factors that contribute to sustainable economic growth since the 18th-century, development economics did not emerge as a legitimate discipline until after World War II. By the 1980s, the view that environmental concerns pose economic constraints had given way to the belief that environmental and development issues are interwoven. This book integrates existing economic development theories and environmental issues in a comprehensive, user-friendly way. It pulls together and makes understandable a wide range of current thinking and historical development, concluding each chapter with a case study that shows the workings of these ideas in practice.

Book Synopsis

Can sustainable economic development be achieved without strong environmental protections? Bringing together theoretical issues in development economics and a wide range of empirical evidence, this book examines this question and explores ways that environmental sustainability has been--and might be--incorporated into existing theories of economic development. Protection of the environment is an essential part of development, and the best chance for achieving long-term sustainable development is to systematically incorporate environmental issues into key aspects of economic development paradigms. To show this, Desta makes use of theoretical approaches, draws policy implications, and illustrates each point with in-depth case studies from developing countries.

Although economists have attempted to discern the factors that contribute to sustainable economic growth since the 18th-century, development economics did not emerge as a legitimate discipline until after World War II. By the 1980s, the view that environmental concerns pose economic constraints had given way to the belief that environmental and development issues are interwoven. This book integrates existing economic development theories and environmental issues in a comprehensive, user-friendly way. It pulls together and makes understandable a wide range of current thinking and historical development, concluding each chapter with a case study that shows the workings of these ideas in practice.

Review Quotes

"Professor Desta has written an excellent and highly readable applied economics development textbook....The book sets a standard by which development textbooks should be written in the future."-Tetteh A. Kofi Professor of Economics University of San Francisco

"Professor Desta's book meets the needs of both the novice and specialist in the field....I highly recommend this work to anyone who has an interest in the linkages between economic development and sustainable development."-Francoise O. Lepage, Ph.D Dean, School of Business and International Studies Dominican College of San Rafael

About the Author

ASAYEHGN DESTA is Professor of Business Economics at Dominican College of San Rafael. He also serves on the faculty of San Francisco State University. He is the author of several articles and the book International Political Risk Assessment for Foreign Direct Investment and International Lending Decisions (1993).